Turn To The Lord and You Will Be Saved, Isaiah 45: 22

In the beautiful The Word on Fire Bible, I encountered a commentary on the passage from Mark 6: 6-13 by Bishop Robert Barron. It concerns Jesus sending out the Twelve on a mission to the surrounding villages, giving them “authority over unclean spirits”. In his commentary, he explained that there are two names used for the devil in the New Testament. The first is diabolos, which is derived from the Greek verb, diabalein, which translates in English to ‘to throw apart’ or ‘to scatter.’ This gives us a great clue to identify the nature of the devil’s work in the world. The devil’s work is to tear asunder, to scatter, and to divide. In contrast to this, we know and understand that God is the great gathering force, the great healing, forgiving force of love that calls us all into relationship with him and with one another. The suggestion in this is that whenever we see the destructive forces of division around us, from all sides, we can be assured that this is the work of the diabolical, not the work of God.

The second word is ho Satanos, which translates from the Greek to English as ‘the accuser’. This is one of the recognizable attributes of the devil. Here is a little experiment that was suggested in that commentary: During the course of your day, pay attention to how often you hear yourself accusing another person of something, or how many times you hear accusations hurled against individuals, groups, organizations, or quite commonly today, political parties by family members, or friends, or neighbors, or public personalities on social media, or on the national news. It should be easy enough, then, to see how this dysfunctional behavior causes families and societies to break down, fall apart, or collapse under the weight of mutual blame. This is not the work of God, and no rationalization can make it so. This is the work of the ‘Scatterer,’ the ‘Accuser’ alone.

Like the Twelve in Mark’s Gospel, we Christians today are called to do battle against the dark spirits of the world, not to join them, or to participate in their divisive habits and actions. We are called to do this by imitating Jesus in our thoughts, our words, and our actions toward all others. This is as true within the environment of our families as it is in our relationships with our most immediate neighbors and our co-workers. God has given us the weapons to do battle with these forces of division and accusation within ourselves and in our wider relationships. Through our baptisms, through our prayer, and through our commitment to come to know Him more and more in and through His Holy Word, we are given the graces we need to become his apostles of healing today, bringing the balm of healing, forgiveness, compassion, and both material and spiritual generosity into all of our relationships, those closest to us and those of the larger community, and even into our roles as citizens in the greater society.

In order to be able to do this, though, we have to do something very difficult; we must commit to doing serious self-reflection. In the light of the Gospel, can I say that I am doing what God wants me to do? Do I understand that the Word of God is not my own private, privileged possession, or that of a particular religious community, but is to be shared openly, serenely, generously, and joyfully in both word and deed; that it is a gift to all, for the good of all? Instead of going along with the dark tendencies of the diabolical one who scatters, and accuses, and divides, do I recognize that I am called to live my life in ways that bring the light of Christ into the divided, darkened, and broken places in the world around me? Jesus calls us to be forces of good, confronting the diabolical forces with the greater force of the love of God. It is clear to all of us that the dark, diabolical forces of division and accusation dominate much of our private and public environment at this time. Because the diabolical forces of division are experienced in every age, indeed, in every generation, Jesus calls each of us to go on mission to the world around us in our own time. It is our turn now, in this moment, in this day, in this time, to answer Jesus’ call to mission. The need is great, indeed.

But to do this, we must turn away from our own habits of divisive and accusatory thinking and behavior, for these are the offspring of false pride. In other words, we must courageously and honestly confront our own sinful tendencies that cause divisions within our hearts, our families, and all our other relationships. We must turn to God for his merciful, grace-filled generosity of loving forgiveness. We can do this with confidence. For God tells us, “I will heal your defection, I will love you freely” (Hos. 14:5). “I will restore you to health; of your wounds I will heal you, says the Lord” (Jer. 30:17). But he did not just tell us this, he lived it. “He let go of divinity, took on the form of a slave, coming in human likeness, humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even to death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6-8). And he has commanded us to do the same. “This is my commandment: that you love each other as I have loved you. There is no greater love than this, that he should lay down his life for his friends” (Jn. 15: 13).

The darkness of division is great and deep all around us at this time. As Christians, we are called to be missionaries of God’s light in the midst of the darkness. We may be filled with fear at the potentially dangerous prospects before us, but, in faith, we can be assured that we will never be left alone in our efforts. If we keep our eyes on God, not on the causes of the darkness, God will pour his generous gifts of grace on us in and through all of our efforts on his behalf. We pray, then, to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to heal our hearts from all that disturbs our inner peace, that he lead us through the darkness and dangers of a disbelieving world, and that he deliver us from the subtle forces of destruction, division and indifference, that we might become his good and faithful servants of light, love, and communion in all that we say and do. In Jesus’ name, we pray.